Raspberry-Almond Linzer Cookies

The Linzer cookie, thought to have originated in the city of Linz, is based on the Linzertorte, one of the most famous and beloved confections in Austria. The cookies are like mini versions of the torte, which consists of a buttery dough, rich with ground almonds or hazelnuts, spread with jamusually raspberry or apricot these days, but originally with black or red currant jam or jellyand then topped with a lattice of more dough before baking.

You don't see Linzertortes often on this side of the Atlantic because the Linzer cookie is so much easier to make and delivers the same wonderful interplay of flavors. With its snowy dusting of confectioners' sugar and glistening red raspberry jam filling, which peeks out from the center of the sandwich cookie, it definitely screams "holiday."

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Spread almonds on a small rimmed baking sheet and bake until fragrantly toasty and nuts are golden on the inside (cut one open). Turn off oven. Cool almonds completely (you can speed this up by putting them in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes).

Grind nuts with 1/2 cup of flour from cookie recipe in a food processor until finely ground, then transfer to a medium bowl. Whisk in remaining 1 1/2 cups flour from recipe and whisk in cinnamon.

Follow the rest of the Buttery Sugar Cookie dough recipe to make the Linzer dough. Divide dough in half, and wrap each half in wax paper, shaping each half into a flattened rectangle, then store each in a resealable plastic bag. Chill dough until firm, at least 2 hours.

Heat oven again to 350°F with rack in middle. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

While oven heats, roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining dough chilled) between two large sheets of wax paper to 1/8 inch thick. (If dough becomes too soft to roll out, quick-chill on a baking sheet in the freezer or chill in the refrigerator until firm.)

Peel back top sheet of wax paper and cut out as many 3-inch cookies with cutter as possible. Then cut 1-inch openings in the center of half the cookies. Transfer cookies, as cut, to a lined baking sheet, arranging them 1 inch apart. (If dough becomes too soft to remove the cookies, quick-chill the dough in freezer or chill in refrigerator again on a baking sheet.)

Gather, reroll, and chill scraps to form more cookies.

Freeze or chill cut-out cookies on baking sheet until firm before baking.

Bake cookies, one sheet at time, until edges are golden, 6 to 9 minutes. Let cookies cool on sheet 2 minutes. Transfer cookies with a metal spatula to a rack to cool completely.

Repeat with remaining piece of dough. (Cool sheets and use fresh parchment for subsequent batches.)

Spread about 1 teaspoon jam on all the solid round cookies (without holes). Lightly dust rings (cookies with holes) with confectioners' sugar using a wire-mesh sieve.

Set rings over jam to form sandwiches.

Cooks' Notes:
For the cleanest edges, keep freezing or chilling the dough between the sheets of wax paper whenever it gets soft, and freeze or chill the cut out cookies before baking them.
Cookies keep in an airtight container in single layers, separated by wax paper, in a cool place 5 days.

my notes

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Recent Review

These are beautiful and delicious. But rolling out the chilled dough was so laborious. I came up with my own easy technique... I rolled out a small amount of softened dough between sheets of waxed paper. Peel off the top sheet of paper. Cut out 4 or 5 cookies and scrape up the soft scraps. Then stick the wax paper with the cookies still intact into the freezer. After you roll out the next piece of dough and get the next set cut out, the first set is firm enough to peel the wax paper off the backs of the cookies. Into the oven and perfect every time!